


Just Observing

by TigStripe



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Barry Allen & Sara Lance - Freeform, Canon Compliant, Grieving, M/M, Post-Crisis on Infinite Earths Crossover Event (CW DC TV Universe), Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-29
Updated: 2020-01-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 16:08:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22460041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TigStripe/pseuds/TigStripe
Summary: In an attempt to grieve the monumental loss of Oliver Queen, Barry visits Star City.In 2016.
Relationships: Barry Allen/Oliver Queen
Comments: 15
Kudos: 130





	Just Observing

The sun bore down on the street outside City Hall that day. People bustled on, going about their business. It was cool, with a warm crossbreeze. Overall, the day was perfect.

The stairs leading up into the building that housed local government were packed with reporters - there was an address to be made by the mayor that day regarding gun control. It was a politically charged time in Star City, especially given Thanksgiving being right around the corner. 

The doors to City Hall opened wide, issuing paparazzi and official news reporters alike to surge forward, microphones and cameras at the ready. Mayor Queen stepped out of the building and up to the podium awaiting him halfway down the stairs, flanked on either side by various pundits and assistants, including his sister Thea.

“Thank you for meeting me today,” Oliver began, calming the clamoring crowd with his sheer presence. He was stern. Handsome. Stalwart. Nothing could threaten him right now.

Across the street, at a little outdoor café, a solitary man sat, his legs crossed, watching the Mayor deliver his speech from behind a dark set of sunglasses and baseball cap. The sunglasses helped mask his identity, but they did little to hide the redness in his face as he fought back tears at watching Oliver from afar.

Barry Allen hung on every word Oliver said, watched with rapt attention every hand motion and grip of the podium. He couldn’t really see details very well at that distance, but Barry’s eyes searched Oliver’s face over and over again, searching for any kind of evidence that he knew he was being watched. There was none.

The press conference didn’t last long, and soon Oliver turned and walked back into City Hall with Thea, Quentin, and the rest of his local Cabinet. The cameras flashed actively behind him, causing Barry’s eyes to sting as he stared at the broad back of his friend walk away.

Once Oliver was out of sight, Barry sat in silence, the chill of the autumn air settling in. Was it really that cold? There had been a pleasant crossbreeze before, something that warmed him. But now, nothing. He shivered.

The chair next to his pulled out, startling him. He looked up at the blonde woman holding it out, who looked down at him with a sad understanding. “Mind if I sit here?” she asked.

Barry absently waved a hand as Sara seated herself next to him. “What do you want?” he asked, his voice flat.

“I’m just here checking up on you,” she replied, taking a sip of a coffee she’d brought with her.

The way she’d said it spurred an itch in Barry’s chest. “I don’t need a babysitter.”

“Oh, don’t I know it,” Sara replied, “but I did.”

Barry gave her a lazily hitched eyebrow. She simply continued drinking her coffee in response.

“I guess you’re here to take me back to 2020?” Barry asked, his gaze returning to stare blankly in the direction of City Hall.

“Maybe in a bit.”

Barry sighed, the irritation in his chest growing bolder. “Go away, Sara.”

She shook her head once, for emphasis. “Nope.”

“Please.”

“Not gonna leave you alone, Barry.”

“Most people would consider that a breach of privacy, you know. Let me grieve my way.”

Sara nodded, but it wasn’t in agreement. “Most people can’t _time travel_ to see their lost loved ones over and over.”

“I haven’t-”

“Don’t even try to lie to me, Barry Allen. We’ve been watching you hop around Oliver’s timeline for a while now.”

“I’m not changing anything,” Barry snapped. “I’m not stupid.”

Sara sighed. “Listen. I’m not here to police your time traveling. I’m here to make sure you have someone to talk to. Someone who understands the hurt you’re putting yourself through. Someone who knows what kind of temptations you’re facing every time you see his face.”

Silence from the other seat.

“I know what you’re going through.”

Barry squeezed his eyes closed, trying hard to mask the burning in his chest and throat. His eyes stung as tears attempted to push out and down his cheeks, but he refused to let them fall.

“Barry.”

He shook his head, not saying a word.

“Barry, please. Look at me.”

He sniffled into a cough, then slowly found Sara looking directly into his eyes, as well as she could behind his sunglasses.

“You have to stop. It’s killing you.”

Barry forced out a mean chuckle. “I know my limits,” he said. “I don’t need you telling me what to do.”

Sara’s head listed to the side as she observed his face. She reached out and took his hand atop the table, running her thumb along his. She said nothing, but Barry felt her intent in their contact. She was worried, and rightly so. Barry had spent weeks in Oliver’s timeline. This was the fourth time he’d watched the gun control speech.

Barry turned his hand palm-up and grasped hers. He squeezed, probably a little too hard. He felt the searing teardrops fall down his cheeks as he stared at their hands, together. When he looked back up at her, Sara’s eyes were glistening with tears of their own.

“I know,” she whispered, and she pulled him into a hug.

The hardness, the grasping in Barry’s chest cracked as he began to sob into her shoulder, each heaving breath a sledgehammer to the weight inside his stomach. His fingertips and his feet ached. His breathing was labored. He felt like he would never stand up again. He wanted to remain there, in Sara’s embrace, for the rest of his life. Or just die, there in her arms.

Anything sounded better than living without Oliver Queen.

After a few minutes, Barry pulled away, his sunglasses crooked. He wiped his eyes and nose before giving a pained smile to his friend.

“I loved him, you know,” Barry said, his voice thin.

Sara nodded sadly. “I know.”

“In another life - on another Earth, maybe - we might have been together.”

No response. Sara simply sat in silence.

Barry sat, staring at nothing. Then, “It hurts, Sara. More than I ever thought it could.”

She squeezed his hand.

They sat in silence for a long while.

“What do I do now? What do _we_ do now?”

Sara hesitated, but when she spoke, her voice was strong. “We carry on. The way he’d want us to. With Kara and Kate and Jefferson and everyone else. He’s gone, but _we_ are his legacy. Without Oliver, there would be no Flash, no White Canary. We have to _choose_ to keep going. For his sake, and our own.”

Barry swallowed hard. She was right, and there was no escaping it - they had to make the conscious decision to keep fighting.

Without him.

He squeezed her hand, looking for the strength to stand up. “Okay.”

Sara smiled. It was warm, but sad.

“Do I have to stop coming back and looking at him?”

Sara considered this, her smile expanding into a somewhat playful grin. “I dunno. Maybe as long as you have some supervision.”

Barry chuckled. “Deal.”

Sara reached over and clapped him on the back. “Good. Now. Let’s go. Not to 2020. Let’s go see how William and Mia turn out, huh?”

The idea of seeing Oliver’s kids again lit a small warmth in Barry’s chest. He smiled. It hurt a little, but it was genuine. To see Oliver’s legacy at its height, to think of his contributions, how he changed the world...

“Yeah. I’d like that.”


End file.
